Couple sentenced for supplying marijuana to closed LA center

April 13, 2004

A Ventura County man was sentenced to a year in prison and his wife received six months of home detention for growing marijuana for a now-closed Los Angeles cannabis center.

The Lockwood Valley couple, Lynn Osburn, 54, and his wife, Judy, 51, were charged in a federal grand jury indictment returned in August 2002 with growing marijuana, conspiracy and maintaining a drug house.

They both pleaded guilty to maintaining a drug establishment, and Lynn Osburn pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

During three raids between 2000 and 2002, authorities seized 650 marijuana plants at the couple's ranch in Ventura County.

Prosecutors said the Osburns supplied the drug to the now-closed Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Cooperative.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz also sentenced Judy Osburn to work 100 hours of community service.

Since passage in 1996 of the state's Proposition 215, which allows seriously ill people to smoke pot with a doctor's recommendation, local authorities have been reluctant to prosecute such cases. Federal authorities, however, said marijuana possession is a federal crime.

The Osburns are well-known activists and authors of 'Green Gold: the Tree of Life,' a history of pot use in major religions. Lynn Osburn uses marijuana to ease severe back pain from a swimming accident and his wife smokes to relieve constant muscle spasms in her lower back.